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First non- chapter post!

Hey guys!
I'm super excited about a new development in Running From A Lie. Basically, I'm taking a step towards getting more people into reading the book, as well as giving you all more information about what's going on. This includes a more constant update of the Facebook page; as well as the creation and maintenance of Youtube and Twitter accounts.

In addition to the Youtube, I'm going to begin a series of videos with "behind the scenes" material. This will include character sketches, sneak peeks of the next chapter, and fun little bits about my writing...and at the rate I'm going with the videos, I'm going to have to make a blooper reel soon. :D

I'm also working on putting together an author Q&A session! Of course, if this is gonna work, I'm going to need a lot of questions. Feel free to post as many questions as you want (you can post them as comments under this post!). I will answer any questions you ask(as long as it pertains to the writing and book....and doesn't make me give away any of the story line), as well as give you a mention!

Let me know what you think!

Chapter 17: Progress

The road was silent. In the past hour and a half, only one car had passed along this stretch of New Jersey country road. Jay was standing, frozen, on the asphalt shoulder, his hands on his head.

“I found the phone.” David said heavily.

Jay turned and looked at the crushed remains of Alice's cell phone.

There was complete silence for a moment.

Jay slowly raised his head, rubbing his chin.“So we can't contact her. What about her watch? Shouldn't that still be transmitting?”

David sighed. “The watch isn't transmitting. My best guess is that it met the same fate as the phone.”

“We should try to find the watch.” Jay said. “The signal died in this spot, right?”

“Do you think they're okay?” Kim asked, looking around at the ground.

David shook his head. “There are only two things that could have happened: either Alice intentionally destroyed the phone and watch, or she was captured.”

“Captured by whom?” Jay asked incredulously.

“I have no idea. Alice is good, though. It would take quite a special person to get her.”

“What about the other three?” Kim asked, kneeling and picking up a piece of glass. “You know, Will, Nel, and Alice's doctor friend? What if they got in the way or slowed her down?”

David nodded tightly. “Good point.”

“Here!” Jay held up the woman's watch. The face was bashed in, the hands were crooked and still.

“So are they taken?” Kim asked, taking the watched and looking at it.

“I don't know. Let me see that.”

David looked at it carefully.

“She hasn't left any symbols or clues...but there's no blood, either.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Jay asked.

“I think...” David ran his finger over the navy blue band of the watch, “...our best bet is to keep traveling in the direction they were headed when we lost the signal.”

It was almost midnight before Tyler came out of the hospital. His face was pale and slightly swollen, but he had put on a stony expression that matched his determined gait.

He walked for about an hour until he reached an ambiguous coffee shop. He'd used this coffee shop's free computers on multiple occasions in the past, usually when he wanted some privacy from Jay's well-meant prying.

He had slacked off on reading the news since he and Jay had joined David and Alice. It had cost him his father, and he wasn't about to miss anything else. He needed some information.

Every major newspaper and news website in New York had written about Carlton Fog's shooting. Tyler grew more and more frustrated as he dug deeper. For all the fancy ruffles and twists of the writers, there was no real information. The only new thing he learned was that his father's shooter had not been caught.

Otis Burkley. That was the name of the man who killed his father. Tyler stared at the picture. The man's bleached white hair stood out grossly from his tan face and dark eyes. Tyler shuddered. Those eyes.

Tyler stood up and headed out of the coffee shop, leaving a tip on the counter for the black coffee he'd consumed.

He was going to kill Otis Burkley.

Marlowe checked her gun from bullets for what seemed the thousandth time. Her breath unsteady, she sat on the edge of her seat, her seat belt straining against her shoulder.

The agent who was driving glanced over at her.

“Are you alright Agent Marlowe?”

“Yeah, Thompson, I'm fine.” Marlowe tried to relax slightly.

“So, this apartment we're going to...it's the one that he died in?”

Marlowe knew, even though Thompson hadn't said his name, that he was referring to Borjes.

She cleared her throat and looked out the window.

“Yeah.”

Thompson shut his mouth tightly and nodded.

They remained silent as they pulled up in front of the run-down building. A glance over her shoulder told Marlowe that the three other cars full of agents had arrived as well.

The lead agent opened her car door and stepped out, taking a deep breath and running her hands nervously through her black hair.

She wasn't sure what she was looking for. If Tyler had killed Borjes....

She banished the thought from her mind. It was highly plausible that either Otis or Tyler had pulled the trigger ending her partner's life. She was only looking for evidence pointing her and her team in either direction.

“Alright, remember that we are working with an unofficial crime scene.” she addressed the other agents.

“Don't disturb anything. We're looking for fingerprints, DNA, the usual...anything linking Tyler Fogg to this crime.”

Tyler finished wiping the dried blood from his deformed nose and shoved the rag he had been using into the back pocket of his jeans. He had dampened the rag when he had washed his hands and straightened his hair in the fountain outside of a large, upper class apartment building on the edge of Gramercy Park. He was not pacing, afraid to enter, as he had thought he would be. The rage and exhaustion inside of him was about to drive him out of his mind, and nothing, not even fear for his life, was going to stop him from confronting Jack Freid.

Tyler had no doubts that Freid had avoided being blown to bits by the inferno that had consumed the limo on the night that Will, Jay, and himself had talked to Freid.

Tyler had spent the three days since his father's death tracking down every scrap of information he could find about Freid; he had come up with several addresses, all of which were completely phony. This one, this last address...this had to be it. He was so sure of it. Something inside this apartment was going to lead him to Freid.

Running his hand through his hair one last time, he stepped up to the buzzer next to the door and pressed the call button.

“Hello?”

Tyler grinned, exhaling through his teeth.

“Charlotte Freid, I need to talk to you.”

“Who's asking?”

“It's about your father.”

Instantly, the voice on the other end was cut out to static. Tyler slammed his palm into the granite next to the buzzer and ground his teeth.

“Come on, Charlotte.” he muttered.

Determinedly, he jabbed the call button again.

Nothing.

Suddenly, a soft hand was pressed firmly over his mouth, a gun against the back of his head.

“Hello Tyler.” Charlotte whispered in his ear. “Let's take this somewhere more private.”

Jay shook his head violently to keep himself awake. Kim was sprawled out in the backseat, asleep, and David was flipping through Will's files again. Jay squeezed his eyes open and shut briefly, his hands tightly on the wheel as he tried to focus on the road ahead.

“Do you want me to take over, Jay?” David asked without looking up.

“No, I'm good for another half hour or so. Have you found anything?”

“Maybe.” David said.

“What does that mean, maybe?” Jay suddenly felt more awake.

“Well, these these are the records for the Drexler, yeah?”

“But we've been over those a million times. There's nothing there.”

“I'm not so sure...every time this painting is mentioned, there's a typo. I looked at all the other paintings...not a single typo. But this painting, there's a typo every time. It could be something.”

“What's the painting?”

“It's called The Leaders. It portrays the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Painted by some obscure artist...this is the only painting that Jefferson Cobb ever did that was shown.”

Jay felt the excitement is his chest building. This could be it.

“Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, actually there is. There are copies of this painting in six other art museums across the country.”

Jay chewed on his lip as he digested this new information. Just the relief of any information at all was incredible. He couldn't make heads or tails of it; his hope was back and bright, though. For the moment he was content. 

Chapter 16: Where It Leaves Us

Jay held David's electronic tracking device in one hand and a local map in the other.

“Did Nel say what they needed?”

“Just that they needed us to come get them.” David answered tensely, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Jay, they're not answering the phone.” Kim said from the back seat.

“Aren't you going to tell us to relax? That everything will be fine?” Jay asked David anxiously.

“It's a high priority for me to relax people in these situations. But the truth is always first priority. I can't guarantee that everything will be fine. Please, don't ask me more than you need to. Try to relax.”

Jay tried to ignore the grainy discomfort of the dry roof of his mouth. He felt like launching into a long, melodramatic train of thought, but he felt empty and weak. There was nothing there but a cold numbness.

The Bellevue Hospital Center was quiet, and the nurse at the front desk was taking advantage of the silence and trying to finish the romance novel she was reading. Her eyelids were drooping a little; it was almost the end of her shift, and she couldn't wait to get home and go to bed. She had it all planned out: she would go home, kick off her tennis shoes, take a long, hot shower, and then climb into bed with her book and the left over cheesecake.

A man was approaching her desk. Sighing, she set down the novel and looked up.

Yikes. The man looked horrible.

“Are you alright, sir?” she asked. “Do you need me to call a nurse?”

He glared at her. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh...no reason.” she bit her lip and looked him over. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“I need to see a patient.” he growled.

“Alright. Name?”

“Carlton Fog.”

She didn't need to look up the name to know the answer. She didn't need to look up the name to get nervous.

“I'm sorry sir, what is your relationship with the patient?”

“He used to live next door to us...Tyler and I grew up together.”

“Wow.” the nurse shook her head. “Are you having a hard time with this?”

Tyler turned away.

“I'm sorry. It's none of my business. Follow me, please?”

The nurse bit her lip and led him to an exam room.

“Please, wait here. I'll go get the doctor. He'll give you the update on Mr. Fog.”

The man nodded, but remained standing.

The nurse chewed on her nails as she rushed down the hall.

“Doctor Peters? There's a man asking to see Carlton Fog.”

“Do you think it's Tyler?”

“There is no way on earth. This guy says he was neighbors with the Fogs, but it looks more likely that he was homeless." She smirked a little. "I don't know how Carlton Fog fit into his life, or how he hasn't seen the news, or...”

“Alright, I'll go talk to him.”

Tyler finally sat down. He didn't want to look nervous.

“Sir?”

Tyler stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah?”

“I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.” the doctor smiled.

Tyler was ready for this. “Ben Hopkins, sir.”

“You said you used to live next door to the Fog family?”

“Well, it was actually just Mr. Fog and Tyler. But yeah, I did.”

“May I ask you a personal question?”

Tyler hesitated, but nodded. “It's about Tyler, isn't it?”

“I'm sorry. You must be so sick of questions.”

“It's okay, really. I've come to terms with it.”

“Did Tyler ever show signs that something like this would happen? I know that the media is saying that both Jay and Tyler had violent backgrounds, but what is your personal stand point?”

Tyler felt a small glow. This was a chance to get some truth out.

“Tyler liked to mess around, yeah. He was always good for a joke or a wild night out. He was always very patriotic though. Very smart.”

The doctor nodded, but Tyler continued.

“I think he was capable of what happened at the Drexler. But I know that he was too smart too get involved in something like this.”

“Interesting.” Doctor Peters said.

Tyler hadn't lied. Ben Hopkins had lived next door when they were teenagers.

“So do you have news on Carlton Fog?”

“Yes, sir. You are aware that he sustained a gunshot to the chest two days ago?”

Tyler felt like a lump of rock had hit his stomach. He'd known that his dad was in the hospital, but couldn't find out why.

“Yes, of course. What condition is he in?”

“He's in surgery as we speak. It's been a long one. They've been in the OR for seven hours so far.”

Tyler swallowed. “Okay. I understand.”

“I'll let you know as soon as I know something. Can we get you anything?”

“No, thanks. I'll wait.”

He did wait. For three hours.

A different doctor came into the room and held out his hand.

“Mr. Hopkins, I'm Doctor Black, Chief of surgery. You're a friend of Carlton Fog?”

Tyler nodded.

The doctor rubbed his hand over his balding head.

“I'm so sorry. We did all we could.”

He put a hand on Tyler's shoulder.

“Is there anything we can do?”

“No.” Tyler managed. “May I see him?”

Tyler had been standing with his back against the door of the OR for the last five minutes. He couldn't move; only stand and stare at the body still on the table.

His father was dead. He was still trying to let it sink in, but it wasn't working.

Dad is dead. Dad is dead. My worst enemy is dead...

He smiled a little. This man was not his father. This man was an enemy who had tried to have himself and Jay killed.

Tyler swaggered forward confidently and pulled the sheet away from the face.

“Dad...”

He bent over the body, shaking from shock and sorrow.

Chapter 15: Emergency

Nel whimpered from the driver's seat. “I didn't see it!”

Alice leaned forward, panicked.

“Is he okay?”

Rob was frozen in horror.

“Rob! Is he okay?” Alice screamed.

“Wait, you guys know each other?” The taller EMT said incredulously.

Alice didn't hear him. Her senses were flooded with concern for Will. Nel climbed into the back and sat down next to Alice.

“I'm so sorry!”

Rob's hands flew as he worked.

The monitors started going crazy.

“What's wrong? Rob!”

“Shut up!” Rob yelled. He pointed with his eyes at the EMTs. “Get your hands in here and stop this bleeding.” he said to one. To the other he said, “Start charging the paddles.”

Alice held her head; watching the monitors and Rob simultaneously. The monitors added sound to her panic...the heart monitor was slowing at a frightening rate.

“I severed an artery.” Rob managed to tell Alice as he worked.

Alice closed her eyes and tried to regain her calm, but to no avail. Forcing her eyes open, she leaned forward. “Tell me what to do, Rob.”

“I need more clamps!” Rob cried.

“Are you sure about that?” The blond EMT said.

Alice looked up....and stared right into the barrel of her own gun.

The EMT had grabbed her gun without her noticing.

“This isn't a real hold up, is it?” he demanded.

Alice didn't say a word. Nel sat frozen, her eyes huge.

The other man was standing behind his comrade, looking uncertainly from the gun, to Alice, to Rob, to Will, and back again.

“You're a tough one, huh? Maybe he'll talk.” the paramedic with the gun turned to Rob, who crumpled against the ambulance with his arms over his head.

“No, please don't.” the doctor pleaded. “I'll tell you anything.”

Alice stole a glance at Will. Will's blood pressure was dropping rapidly.

“Rob....”

The petrified man didn't move.

“Listen to me. I'm sorry we lied to you.” Alice spoke to the paramedic quietly, urgently. “We were just trying to save our friend. Please, let me save him.”

The brave paramedic hesitated, glancing at Will.

“James, what should I do?” he muttered behind him.

James stepped forward bravely. Maybe stupidly, but bravely.

“Look, I don't know who you two are. I don't know who this guy is. All I know is that this is really, really suspicious.”

His friend nodded in agreement.

“I think...yeah. We should get out of here, Sam.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah...let's go.”

They backed out of the ambulance, keeping the gun and their eyes firmly on Rob and Alice.

Alice felt like puking.

Hurry up, hurry up.

The minute they'd closed the door, Alice spun around to Will.

“Hang in there, Will. Hang on. Rob!”

Rob was still in the corner, curled in a ball.

“Rob!” She reached forward and slapped at him. “Come on, help me!”

He was shaking, but he sat up and looked at Will. “I don't know, I...”

“Rob. What does he need? I'll do it.” She yanked on a pair of gloves.

“Yeah, okay...” He shook his head moments later. “He's a goner.”

“No, no he's not.” Nel stood up and touched Will's hand.

Alice was bent over Will, working furiously as Rob weakly directed her.

Soon, Rob was recovered enough to help Alice. Ten minutes went by, and Will's condition didn't change.

“We're running out of time.” Alice cried. “Nel, take my phone and call speed dial four. That's David's number.”

“What do you want me to say?” the other woman asked, seizing the phone.

“Tell David to come get us. He can track my location from my watch. Do it, now!”

Nel made the call.

“He'll be here in twenty minutes.” she said, hanging up.

“I need more clamps!” Rob shouted.

The monitor's beeping became one long sound....Will's pulse was gone.

“Alice, get your hands out.” Rob grabbed the paddles and raised them in his hands.

Alice pulled out her hands and collapsed against the wall of the ambulance.

“Charging....clear!”

Will's body jolted.

“Charging...clear...”

“Come on, come on...” Alice muttered.

Silence.

Nel's lips were trembling.

“He's gone.”

Rob cursed.

“No, no...” Alice stood up and took Will's face in her hands. “No...”

“Try again, please.” Nel whispered. “Please!”

Rob slammed his fist into his palm.

“He's gone, okay?”

“Try again! Now!” Alice grabbed a scalpel and pointed it at her fake boyfriend. “I'm not kidding, Rob.”

Rob stared at the blade. “Alice...”

“Now, Rob.”

Rob picked up the paddles, his hands shaking.

“Charging....clear.” his voice trembled.

Chapter 14: Cops and Robbers

Alice tightened her grip on her unloaded gun and looked over at Nel; checking to make sure that the girl was alright. Nel's face was pale, but her hand was steady as she held her gun.

“Here come the sirens. Masks.”

Nel complied.

“I love you.” Rob whispered in Alice's ear.

Alice grimaced under her mask.

Gross.

“MMMmm. I love you more.” she murmured to him.

Alice whispered a quick prayer as she glanced at Will.

He has to make it.

He would make it. She knew it.

No more time to think about it.

Sirens.

They were stopping in front of the house.

The front door was opening.

It had become a way of life for Alice. She lifted her gun into the face of the shocked EMT.

“You better fix him.” she growled at him.

Nel was holding Rob's wrist and pressing her gun to his side, as they had briefly practiced.

There were two paramedics.

 Alice admired their courage, even in the midst of her act. They were young men; the one she had at gunpoint was tall, had dark brown hair, and couldn't be older than twenty-five. The one behind him was shorter, stockier, with a mop of blondish-reddish hair. 

Both of them were reacting ideally: calm and collected, obviously not about to either freak out or do anything stupid. These two were smart.

“What happened to him?” the taller one asked quietly.

“He was shot. A week ago. And the bullet's still in him. I need you two and the doctor to remove the bullet and fix him.”

“Let's get started.” Rob said.

He could have been an actor, Alice marveled. He looked so scared. Alice paused, realizing that he might actually be afraid. As she considered this, she realized that she had never brandished her gun in front of him. This could be too dangerous.

“We need to get this over with quickly.” she whispered to Nel.

Nel nodded.

“Get him into the ambulance.” Alice commanded the EMTs harshly.

Will stirred as he was moved onto the gurney.

“Maya...”

Alice's heart leaped into her throat.

Please don't say anything else. She begged him silently.

“Maya...”

Maybe we're safe.

“Maya...”

Yeah.

“Why are you stopping? Get him loaded up.” she snapped to the paramedics.

Nel followed the men out to the ambulance with her gun, and Alice grabbed a quick, whispered word with Rob.

“Are you doing alright?”

He sniffed and glanced at her gun. “Yeah. Of course.”

She sighed and touched his shoulder quickly. “It's not loaded. Don't worry.”

He brightened considerably.

“You can do this.” she encouraged.

“Yeah, yeah I can.”

Alice backed away a few steps, nodded at him, and said firmly.

“You better have everything you need.” 

He nodded, and this time she could see that his trembling was fake. She smiled under her mask.

As Alice had instructed, Nel had been driving the ambulance in almost random circles for over an hour. To avoid attention, she hadn't activated the sirens and lights. They drove slowly down back roads and lesser highways.

Alice was sitting behind Will's head, watching nervously as Rob performed the surgery. Alice had made them wait a while to begin; she wanted to feel out Nel's driving patterns. So far it had been smooth, but she warned Nel to honk the horn if an unavoidable bump or pothole was approaching. When she honked, Rob would stop cutting, pulling, and stitching, and pull his hands away from Will's open torso until the bump had passed.

The ride was awkwardly silent except for Rob's occasional commands to the other two “hostages”.

“Clamp...scalpel...suction...clamp.”

Alice bit her lip until it bled. Despite her intense training and tough personality, she felt her female caring side kick in. Will was so pale...and a doctor had his hands buried in his insides as they bumped down the road. She wished she could have thought of some other way to make it all work, but it was too late and she was fully out of ideas.

“Well?” she asked in her kidnapping tone as they waited for a series of bumps to pass.

“So far so good.” Rob said shortly.

The bumps were over, and Rob went back to work. A few short moments later, he triumphantly held up the bullet.

“Here.”

Alice let her head droop over Will's.

“Thank you, thank you.” she whispered to no one in particular.

“I'll close him up.” Rob said, relief flooding his own voice as he set the bullet aside and reached back inside of Will. “We should be....”

His words were cut off in a horrified gasp as the ambulance jumped over a little, rattling bump.

Chapter 13: Liquid Pain

Tyler set the razor down and frowned angrily at the mirror in his room at the motel. He hated the way he looked, but he was sure that he no longer resembled who he used to be; that is, the Tyler Fog that people were looking for.

He'd just finished buzzing his hair down to an almost non-existent length. It stuck out in funny tufts around his ears, now, but he didn't feel like cleaning up. Dampening his fingertips, he slicked the tufts against his head.

What was left of his blonde hair was dyed a nasty, but natural looking shade of auburn.

He had - to his shame – purchased some eyeshadow. It was a dark brownish-purple color, the color of bruises, in his opinion. He had applied the makeup carefully to resemble a junkie rock-star style.

The whole disguise was topped off by the one element that was out of his control...his nose. Thinking back, he had counted three times in the last four days that he'd had his nose broken: the first time was when he met Alice; the second time was his reunion with Jay, the third was his fight with Jay and David.

Furious, Tyler threw the razor and hair dye bottle against the sink. His face looked like it had been run over by a truck.

“No girl will fall for this.” he muttered, realizing that his best tool for getting information – his appearance- was destroyed

He had always been the more careless of the three when it came to girls. Jay had been excruciatingly faithful to Kim; they had both believed Will to be single.

Tyler had drifted from girl to girl, charming his way into each of their lives, then getting left in the dust when they realized that he wasn't a knight in shining armor. He'd been called so many awful names when the girls found out that he wasn't after a real relationship. He'd blown it so many times.

“Room service.” a voice said outside his door.

“Not now.” he answered.

“Sir, are you aware that you were supposed to check out three hours ago?” the maid ventured.

“Yes, I'm aware. I'm...having trouble packing.”

“I'll give you another ten minutes, sir. If you're not out by then, I'll have to call security.”

“It'll be like I was never here.” Tyler shouted through the door, shoving his things into his backpack.

Time to move on.

The FBI office buzzed uneasily as the agents gathered in a tight bunch. It was eleven pm on a Wednesday night, and over ninety percent of the people standing in the large hallway were holding yet another cup of coffee in their hands. Marlowe stood with the rest of them, ignoring her rumpled jacket, frazzled hair, and the growing bags under her eyes.

She couldn't remember the last full night of sleep she'd had in the past two weeks. Most of the sleep had been one to two hour naps in her car in the parking lot, or on the couch in the lobby. She'd been home three times in the past nine days...but only to shower, change her clothes, and steal a few moments of exhausted sleep. Not even bothering to unmake the bed, she'd sprawled over the top and let the embrace of the soft mattress capture her for a few brief moments of rest. Then, it was back at work again.

At the moment, she and the other agents were waiting for yet another briefing from Chambers. Marlowe was the most uneasy person in the room. She hadn't shared her mysterious and shocking call to Chambers with anyone else; she felt imprisoned by her position in comparison to his.

Only a day had passed. Her head kept whirling around with the information she had. No matter what the circumstances, though, she knew that the truth about the boss had to come out somehow...and soon.

Borjes was dead, maybe even because of Chambers.

The boss himself appeared before her. Almost regally, he stalked through the glass doors of his office and into the hallway. Marlowe's stomach twisted as she remembered that those glass doors had been part of Chambers downfall; allowing her to see in and positively identify him as the mysterious voice on the phone.

“Good evening, people. Let me first say how proud I am of this office. The New York branch of the FBI has an admirable group of people on its hands.

“Alright, let's get to business. We have several things to report to the press, but I wanted to get it to you people first. You better take some notes.

“We think that we're closing in on Tyler Fog. We've received several tips claiming that a person resembling Tyler Fog has been seen at least four times this week in the Trinity area. We're on it. Marlowe, I want you heading that team.”

Marlowe felt like she had swallowed a bucket of stones, but she managed to nod her head.

“Good. Now, the rest of you, just keep on keepin' on. Think about how good it will be to get these guys behind bars.”

There was a loud murmur, almost a cheer of agreement. Marlowe didn't join in. She was becoming more and more convinced that Tyler and Jay didn't belong behind bars, and that Chambers was the one who needed a long sentence.

“You alright, Marlowe?” Chambers' voice said in her ear.

She jumped, her appearance too shaken too look normal. Hopefully Chambers wouldn't notice.

As evenly as she could, she said. “Yes sir. Just tired, sir.”

“Aren't we all. Good work this week. Keep it up.”

Marlowe smiled a little. Chambers was proud of himself, obviously. He had benched her and forced her to push paperwork, obviously keeping her out of the way. She had taken the hint -and the mysterious phone call- and left him alone. He had been getting suspicious that she knew more than she should. She'd kept digging, although secretly, into everything that she felt was necessary, but only reported what Chambers expected her to. Even though she hated even the pretense of being his pawn, she knew that it was working...or was it?

Suddenly, Marlowe wondered about her new task. If Chambers didn't want her finding the truth about the Drexler, why was he letting her lead the team? Frowning and tapping her nails against the coffee mug in her hand, she headed back to her office.

Jay exhaled nervously as he squeezed Kim's hand. The two of them stood in the kitchen, waiting for the moment when David would hang up the phone and give them Alice's update.

As cliché as it sounded, Jay couldn't shake the feeling that time was standing still. He tried to focus on the reassuring knowledge and evidence that Kim was holding his hand. She was there. She wasn't going anywhere. He sighed and relaxed slightly.

Still, time was dragging. It seemed like hours before David hung up the phone and turned to them.

“It's good.” He said quickly.

“Are there any catches to that statement?” Jay asked, after letting out a relieved sigh.

“Not really. What Nel and Kim will be doing is dangerous, but we expected that. I don't see this going badly.”

“What exactly are they doing?” Jay asked, wrapping his arm around Kim's shoulders.

David explained Alice's plot, but Jay was hesitant.

“Are you sure...”

“Jay, don't over-think this. I know how much you want to analyze and fix everything, but in our world there's always going to be risk involved. Trust me, this is the safest way.”

“Are you sure that the doctor is completely on board with this plan?” Kim wondered.

“Alice is always very thorough in her undercover work. Trust me, this man is head over heels in love with her. He's going to trust her, no matter what. In return, she's going to do what she can for him as a civilian...protect him and what not.” David caught the expression on Jay's face.

“Kim, why don't I leave you two alone.”

Kim took the hint and sat at the table with Jay.

“I love you.” she told him.

He smiled and kissed her, hard. “I love you too.”

“Do you know why I love you? Because you're there for people, no matter what. Listen to me, though. This is okay. You're okay. Please,” she touched his cheek and brushed his hair away from his face. “relax. Go get some more sleep, let me rub your shoulders, eat some food, something! Just don't worry. You're going to give yourself gray hair.”

Jay smiled a little at this.

“You're too young for gray hair, Jay. Okay? Kiss me.”

He did.

“I'm glad I have you.”

“Look me in the eyes, and promise me that you'll quit worrying.”

He sighed and tugged on his sleeve.

“Jay.”

Shaking his head uncomfortably, he looked up and met her eyes.

“I promise.”